CONTENTS:
- PRIME MINISTER FORMALIZATION OF THE MICRO FOOD PROCESSING ENTERPRISES SCHEME
- PATENT PROSECUTION HIGHWAY
- NATIONAL DIGITAL HEALTH MISSION
- MISSION INNOVATION
- ONE STOP CENTRES
- DUSTLIK
- KISAN RAIL
PRIME MINISTER FORMALIZATION OF THE MICRO FOOD PROCESSING ENTERPRISES SCHEME
Focus: GS III- Agriculture
Why in news?
MIS portal has been launched for the submission of applications from individual micro food processing enterprises.
About PM-FME Scheme:
Nodal: Ministry of Food Processing Industries(MOFPI).
- It is a centrally sponsored scheme.
- Aim is to modernize and enhance the competitiveness of the existing individual micro enterprises and ensure their transition to formal sector
- To provide support to Farmer Producer Organizations, Self Help Groups, and Producers Cooperatives along their entire value chain.
- Duration: The PM-FME scheme will be implemented over a period of five years from 2020-21 to 2024-25 with an outlay of Rs 10,000 crore.
- Funding: The expenditure under the PM-FME scheme would be shared in 60:40 ratio between Central and State Governments, in 90:10 ratio with North Eastern and Himalayan States, 60:40 ratio with UTs with legislature and 100% by Centre for other UTs.
Objectives
- Increase in access to finance by micro food processing units.
- Increase in revenues of target enterprises.
- Enhanced compliance with food quality and safety standards.
- Strengthening capacities of support systems.
- Transition from the unorganized sector to the formal sector.
- Special focus on women entrepreneurs and Aspirational districts.
- Focus on minor forest produce in Tribal Districts.
Eligibility
- Scheme is for All India basis.
- Support to Individual micro units:
- Micro enterprises will get credit linked subsidy @ 35% of the eligible project cost with ceiling of Rs.10 lakh.
- Beneficiary contribution will be minimum 10% and balance from loan.
- On-site skill training & Handholding for DPR and technical upgradation.
- Support to FPOs/SHGs/Cooperatives:
- Seed capital will be given to SHGs (@Rs. 4 lakh per SHG) for loan to members for working capital and small tools.
- Grant for backward/ forward linkages, common infrastructure, packaging, marketing & branding.
- Skill training & Handholding support.
- Credit linked capital subsidy.
PATENT PROSECUTION HIGHWAY
Focus: GS III- Indian Economy
Why in news?
4th Review meeting held under Indo-Japan Memorandum of Cooperation on Industrial Property. Both sides agreed to recognize each other’s Offices to act mutually as competent ISA/IPEA under pilot Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) program
About the PPH
- The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) is a set of initiatives for providing accelerated patent prosecution procedures by sharing information between some patent offices.
- The programme would be run by the Indian Patent Office (IPO) under the Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks India (CGPDTM) with patent offices of various other interest countries or regions.
- It will initially commence between Japan Patent Office (JPO) and Indian Patent Office on pilot basis for a period of three years only.
- Under this Pilot programme, Indian Patent Office may receive patent applications in certain specified technical fields only, namely, Electrical, Electronics, Computer Science, Information Technology, Physics, Civil, Mechanical, Textiles, Automobiles and Metallurgy etc.
- The patent offices will frame their own guidelines for implementation of the programme.
Benefits of PPH:
- Reduction in disposal time and pendency of patent applications.
- Consistency in the quality of granted patents.
- Provides an opportunity for Indian inventors including MSMEs and Start-ups to get accelerated examination of their patent applications in Japan (initially, and later other countries).
- Faster grant of patents in India will result in more inbound investments by companies and also the introduction of newer technologies thereby giving a fillip to Make in India and increasing employment opportunities.
NATIONAL DIGITAL HEALTH MISSION
Focus: GS II- Health
Why in News
The Prime Minister of India announced the launch of National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) on 74th Independence Day.
- This is a part of three digital announcements by the Prime Minister including a new cyber security policy and optical fibre connectivity to six lakh villages in the country.
About NDHM:
Nodal: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
- The NDHM is a complete digital health ecosystem.
- Key features —
- Health ID,
- Personal health records,
- Digi Doctor
- Health facility registry.
- At a later stage, it will also include e-pharmacy and telemedicine services, regulatory guidelines for which are being framed.
- The NDHM is implemented by the National Health Authority (NHA) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
- The National Health Authority (NHA), is also the implementing agency for Ayushman Bharat.
- The platform will be available in the form of an app and website.
- The Digi Doctor option will allow doctors from across the country to enrol and their details, including their contact numbers if they want to provide them, will be available.
- These doctors will also be assigned digital signatures for free which can be used for writing prescriptions.
Health ID
- The national health ID will be a repository of all health-related information of every Indian.
- Various healthcare providers — such as hospitals, laboratories, insurance companies, online pharmacies, telemedicine firms — will be expected to participate in the health ID system.
- Every patient who wishes to have their health records available digitally must create a unique Health ID, using their basic details and mobile or Aadhaar number.
- Each Health ID will be linked to a health data consent manager, which will be used to seek the patient’s consent and allow for seamless flow of health information from the Personal Health Records module.
- The Health ID will be voluntary and applicable across states, hospitals, diagnostic laboratories and pharmacies.
MISSION INNOVATION
Focus: GS III- Environment
Mission Innovation:
- Mission Innovation was announced on 30th November 2015, on the sidelines of the Paris Climate Agreement to undertake ambitious measures to combat climate change.
- It is a global initiative of 24 countries and the European Union to accelerate global clean energy innovation.
- As part of the initiative, participating countries have committed to double their governments’ clean energy research and development (R&D) investments over five years, while encouraging greater levels of private sector investment in transformative clean energy technologies.
- These additional resources are expected to dramatically accelerate the availability of the advanced technologies that will define a future global energy mix that is clean, affordable, and reliable.
- Mission Innovation has identified eight (8) Innovation Challenges which are global calls to action aimed at accelerating research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) in technology areas where increased international attention would make a significant impact in the shared fight against climate change.
- The Innovation Challenges cover the entire spectrum of RD&D; from early-stage research needs assessments to technology demonstration projects.
- India is also co-leading Smart Grids, Off Grids and Sustainable Biofuels Innovation and is actively participating in all ICs and other activities of MI. These challenges taken up under Analysis and Joint Research and co-led by India and Canada include:
- Smart Grids
- Off-Grid Access to Electricity
- Carbon Capture
- Sustainable Biofuels
- Converting Sunlight
- Clean Energy Materials and
- Affordable Heating and Cooling of Buildings Innovation Challenge
Mission Innovation 2.0:
- To achieve the shared goal of accelerating innovation, all the members have agreed to develop a second phase (2.0) that includes:
- An enhanced Innovation Platform building on current activities to strengthen the global clean energy innovation ecosystem and to accelerate learning.
- New public-private innovation alliances – Missions – built around ambitious and inspirational goals backed by voluntary commitments that can lead to tipping points in the cost, scale, availability, and attractiveness of clean energy solutions.
ONE STOP CENTRES
Focus: GS I- Indian Society
Why in news?
Government has approved 733 One Stop Centre (OSC) across the Country, out of which 700 are operational.
About One stop centre:
Nodal: Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD)
- It is a centrally sponsored scheme addressing the problem of violence against women.
- The OSCs provide a range of services such as police facilitation, legal aid, psycho-social counselling, medical aid and temporary shelter in an integrated manner, under one roof, for violence affected women and women in distress.
- It is a sub scheme of umbrella scheme for National Mission for Empowerment of Women including Indira Gandhi Mattritav Sahyaog Yojana.
- One stop centre, will be established across the country to provide integrated support and assistance under one roof to women affected by violence, both in private and public spaces.
- Funding: The scheme is funded through Nirbhaya Fund and the central government provides 100% financial assistance to the state governments /Union Territories administrations.
Nirbhaya Fund
- The Nirbhaya Fund Framework provides for a non-lapsable corpus fund for safety and security of women.
- It is administered by the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) of the Government of India.
- It can be utilized for projects and initiatives related to women safety.
PRELIMS TIDBITS
DUSTLIK
Focus: GS III-Defence
Why in news?
The second edition of Indo-Uzbekistan Joint Field Training Exercise, EXERCISE DUSTLIK-II culminated on Friday, 19 March 2021, after 10 days of mutual learning.
Key points:
- It is a bilateral military exercise between armies of India and Uzbekistan.
- The exercise Dustlik began in 2019 and was hosted by Uzbekistan.
- The armies will showcase its Counter Insurgency (CI) and Counter Terrorism (CT) skills.
- The focus of the second edition will be on people-centric intelligence based surgical operations, incorporating technological advancements to minimize collateral damage.
- The Army will also showcase use of force multipliers including helicopters, Special Forces, specialist equipment and establishment of automated surveillance grid for situational awareness.
KISAN RAIL
Focus: GS III- Agriculture
About Kisan Rail
- It was announced in the Union Budget 2020-21
- This train will help in bringing perishable agricultural produce like vegetables and fruits to the market in a short period of time.
- The train with frozen containers is expected to build a seamless national cold supply chain for perishables.
- This train is a step towards realizing the goal of doubling farmers’ incomes by 2022 (Ashok Dalwai committee on Doubling of Farmers’ Income.)
- The first Kisan Rail was introduced from Devlali (Maharashtra) to Danapur (Bihar) on 7th August, 2020, which was further extended upto Muzaffarpur.
- Introduction of Kisan Rail is conceptualized to provide priority to the farming sector and facilitate transportation of perishable agricultural products to various market places across the country.
- Efforts have been made in every budget to make provisions for strengthening the agricultural economy and doubling of farmers’ income, which are now beginning to bear fruit.
